Mail Forwarding - Short Term

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Lavendergrey

Lavendergrey

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2015
Posts
7
Location
Arizona, USA
Hi!  I've looked around the forum and also searched, but was unable to find any fairly recent posts or threads about mail forwarding companies, etc.  I did see some from 2012 and earlier, but since things change so rapidly in this world, I am hoping for some recent info based on RVer's experiences.

My hubby and I are newbies who are picking up our new RV the first week of February.  Our first venture out in it will be a short 10 day trip to get ourselves acclimated, and for that we will simply have our mail held by the PO.  Then, we will be traveling for 4-5 months this summer/fall and will be  interested in mail forwarding.  So, the questions I have are:  Which mail forwarding company would you recommend and why?

We are members of both Good Sam Club and FMCA and, although I've gathered info on both of their mail forwarding plans, I would be interested in hearing opinions from any who have actually used one or the other (or both!).

Thank you to all who may respond.  :)
 
Not a direct answer to your question, but we have always used a trusted friend or relative to forward, and paid them to stuff it all in a flat rate box. We call, they send.

Another place to consider is Escapees, they have an excellent forwarding service and some very good membership benefits.
 
https://www.maillinkplus.com/index.php

I used Mail Link Plus for many years when I was full timing and I was very happy with their service.
 
Because we can check Billing accounts, etc. on-line, for 1-2 week trips we just get the Post Office to Hold it and we pick it up when we return. A free service of the USPS.
 
Usually when you pick a mail forwarder, you have to contact everyone who sends you mail and have them change your address to the mail forwarding service.  Then when you return from your trip everyone has to change it back again unless you continue to use the mail forwarding service and just have them send it to your house instead of a campground.

The USPS has a Temporary Mail Forwarding Change of Address.  You could set this up for the duration of your trip, have mail addressed to your house sent to the mail forwarding service while you're away and cancel it when you return.  The USPS forwarding is available for up to 6 months, extendable up to a maximum of 12 months.  This will let you continue to use your home address while you're away.

The P.O. will only forward mail to a single address, so you can't have them send the mail directly to you as you travel around.  You have to pick a mail forwarder and have the Post Office send your mail there, then have the forwarder send it to you.

Since you're looking to forward for a single, fixed duration trip, I suggest looking for a local mail forwarder.  Family is one choice, if there's a UPS Store or a similar package/mailbox store in your town, ask them about renting a Mailbox, then have them mail the contents to you when you call.  Many UPS Stores will do this, and having your mail forwarding handled locally versus having your local post office send it to a more distant mail service will decrease the time it takes your mail to get to you.
 
Lou, you can also use temporary forwarding to a mail forwarder like Escapees, etc., so that your mail can then be forwarded to where you currently are or will be on request, something the USPS will not do for you. Direct temp forwarding is fine if you're going to be in one spot for the duration, but not if you're moving around.
 
Right - that's why I suggested setting up the USPS temporary mail forwarding from your home address to a mail forwarder.  The advantage of having the PO forward your mail from your house to your mail service is you don't have to change your address twice, to the forwarder when you leave and back to your house when you return.
 
We have been using www.MyRVMail.com for several years.  You can temporarily have your mail forwarded via USPS from your home address to MyRVMail.  They will list on line the date the mail is received, the sender, the type of mail (letter, plastic card, etc) and how much the piece weighs.  From there you can have them shred the mail (if you know it is junk), or forward it to your current location via USPS or UPS.  There is an initial set up fee and a monthly fee plus the postage to forward to your current location.  You can have the mail forwarded whenever you want either to the RV Park where you are staying or to General Delivery at the local Post Office.

Since we are staying in one spot for the winter I have my mail forwarded weekly.  When we were travelling, it would sometimes be several weeks or even a month before I would have the mail forwarded since we do most things on line and receive most of our bills and bank statements on line.  They will also open and scan to a PDF file any piece of mail that you need in a hurry.

I don't own any stock in MyRVMail but highly recommend them.  There are many other companies out there that may fit your needs better.  Run a search for Mail Forwarding Companies, check them out and then come back here for more opinions.

Good luck.  Safe travels.
 
The info from 2012 is mostly still valid, but mail forwarding has become much less important in the last few years. You can (and should) receive most important info via email or text, view statement via website, pay bills via your bank's online service, etc. If you do all that, holding your mail for a month isn't a big deal, and USPS forwarding handles the rest (either temporary (up to 6 months ) or permanent.  We find that we only need to get physical mail sent to our campground location once every several weeks.

We use the "forward to friend or family" method, but use of a forwarding service works well too.

Not all campgrounds will accept "mail" for its guests (individual pieces of mail), but most will accept packages, especially is UPS, Fedex or Priority Mail. Have your forwarder bundle up the mail you want and send it via a package service to your location, but check with the campground first to make sure they will accept it and also how you will obtain it once it is there. If necessary, you can always get a local USPS post office box or a private mailbox service such as the UPS Store, but that is generally practical only for longer term stays..
 
Talk about newbies (me)! Duh, ok...... what's FMCA?  Patty and I will be away from home, on the road, for at least a year come May. Thanks for the post and the direction, all.
Safe travels all.
gary
 
Thanks for all of your responses!  Very helpful.  I've done some research and combined with what you have all shared here we can make a good decision.  I sort of like the idea of keeping things local...so may go with a UPS store or even our son, who lives in the same area we do.  Didn't really want to impose on him, but perhaps we can make it worth his while and also make it less expensive than using an actual mail forwarding service!!  ;D  We have already transitioned all important things like bills, statements, etc., to online, so mostly our mail will be non-urgent and there may be the need to receive something now and then while we are away. 

Thanks again!
 
I use a local "Shipping Post" store.  They serve as a post office, UPS site and have mail boxes.  They are about 2 miles from my house.  When I am home I get the mail there every day or two.  They also accept large packages and boxes when I get something from Amazon or eBay.


When on the road I have them forward the mail to wherever I am every week or two.  I normally don't need to get the mail as most everything that we do is direct deposit and debit from our bank.


We have used this service for about 6 years and never had any problems.  I don't even have a mailbox at the house.  The service costs me $111.00 per year and when they send the mail it is about $5.25 for a USPS Priority envelope.
 
We have had an account with our local Postage Plus store since 2003 and have all our mail going there to our PMB (Private Mail Box) instead of to our on the street mail box.  Everything is safe and like yolo said they will also except packages I have shipped there.  We have never had a problem with them.  When traveling we call and give them the address where they need to send our mail, some times we have just have them send it to General Delivery at the Post Office we are near.  Dick nvrver
 
I recommend https://www.goodsammailservice.com/ Good Sam Mail Service in Florida. They?ve been in business for many years serving the cruising, RVing and traveler communities, and we?ve heard nothing but glowing recommendations. They were easy to work with, sign-up was handled all online, and they provided all of the forms and instructions. They quickly answered our questions, including verifying that you could use our new address for our businesses without needing any additional occupancy license. Very impressed with their high tech scanning solution that actually lets you see the outside of incoming mail as soon as it arrives, and for a small extra fee they will even open your mail and scan the contents on request!
Edit: Fixed url.
 
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